Transforming Dalit Identity: Ancient Drum Beat, New Song

<p>Folk music is one medium used by the Dalits of India in response to the oppression they face under the country's caste system. This thesis describes research conducted on the effects of music composed by a radical Dalit Christian pastor in South India nicknamed ' Parattai.' The main aims were to investigate how Parattai's religiously affiliated Dalit folk music transformed people, and whether or not its popularity and use had been maintained since Parattai's death in 2005. The primary data was collated from twenty six semi-structured interviews which took place in Tamil Nadu state between December 2006 and April 2007. The secondary data comprises literature on caste and inequality, and grassroots responses involving religion and music. This research found that Parattai' s music was effective because it declared a proud Dalit identity. Parattai embraced and reclaimed the musical and dance styles, vernacular languages, food, and religious ideologies of Dalits so as to transform Dalits from the inside out. Parattai's music continues to empower people with the appreciation of their own strengths. However, further promotion of his folk music style would ensure enduring transformation and activism towards the equality of all Dalits.</p>

Transforming Dalit Identity: Ancient Drum Beat, New Song

<p>Folk music is one medium used by the Dalits of India in response to the oppression they face under the country's caste system. This thesis describes research conducted on the effects of music composed by a radical Dalit Christian pastor in South India nicknamed ' Parattai.' The main aims were to investigate how Parattai's religiously affiliated Dalit folk music transformed people, and whether or not its popularity and use had been maintained since Parattai's death in 2005. The primary data was collated from twenty six semi-structured interviews which took place in Tamil Nadu state between December 2006 and April 2007. The secondary data comprises literature on caste and inequality, and grassroots responses involving religion and music. This research found that Parattai' s music was effective because it declared a proud Dalit identity. Parattai embraced and reclaimed the musical and dance styles, vernacular languages, food, and religious ideologies of Dalits so as to transform Dalits from the inside out. Parattai's music continues to empower people with the appreciation of their own strengths. However, further promotion of his folk music style would ensure enduring transformation and activism towards the equality of all Dalits.</p>

Discrimination on Gender Binary Campuses

In recent years, transgender people have both grown in numbers and visibility in the united states. However, the issue of discrimination against transgender people has been a serious and widespread phenomenon in today's society. This paper discusses the transgender issues at large and how the issues negatively affect transgender students' college experiences in a variety of ways, including but not limited to institutions' failure to include "gender identity" in their nondiscrimination policies. The evidence from scholarly sources also suggests that religiously affiliated, single-sex and two-year colleges typically offer few protections for transgender students. Finally, the paper will examine institutions' past initiatives on the subject matter and provide recommendations for institutions to create a more gender-friendly environmnent.

Mapping nonordinary experiences across cultures in the U.S. and India

Cross-cultural similarities and differences in “nonordinary” experiences—experiences that stand out to people relative to what they consider ordinary or everyday—are not well understood by clinicians or researchers. Although such experiences—many of which are interpreted as religious, spiritual, extraordinary, or psychopathological—can give rise to outsized claims and have lasting effects on individual lives, they are often ignored, dismissed, or pathologized. Here, we map nonordinary experiences across cultures in the U.S. and India, with particular attention to the religiously affiliated and unaffiliated, and explore ways in which culture and experiences interact. We use a feature-based approach that separates a wide range of experiences, described phenomenologically, from the claims made about them, and investigates both. We explore questions such as: Are experiences more common in India—a culture that valorizes and actively cultivates them—than in the U.S.? Are the experiences people report shaped more by the country they live in (U.S. versus India) or the religion they affiliate with (Christianity versus Hinduism)? Which experiences are most personally transformative across cultures? What is the experiential profile of the religiously and spiritually unaffiliated? Do cultural traditions have their own distinctive experiential footprints? As a whole, we demonstrate the usefulness of our approach for mapping experiences deemed nonordinary across cultures, and propose that such experiences are not a relic of religious and spiritual traditions but are widespread and play important roles in the lives of many people today.

Role models, compatibility, and knowledge lead to increased evolution acceptance

Background Evolution acceptance is still low in the United States, especially among religious students. Due to low acceptance, researchers have used a wide variety of methods to increase evolution acceptance. Six culturally competent methods for teaching evolution to religious students have been identified, this manuscript looks specifically at the method of reconciliation between religion and evolution. The reconciliation module has been shown to effectively increase evolution acceptance while allowing students to maintain their religious views. However, we lack an understanding of why this method is effective. We measure evolution acceptance and religiosity at eight religiously affiliated institutions in the United States to again measure the effects of a reconciliation model in biology classrooms. This manuscript also attempts to address classroom influences that allowed students to reconcile evolution with their religious beliefs. Results Of the eight schools that participated, there were no statistically significant decreases in the religiosity of the students over the semester. Five of the eight institutions had statistically significant increases in their evolution acceptance scores over the semester. We identified three major influences students mentioned as reasons for change towards evolution acceptance: the presence of a role model, discussions on religion and science compatibility, and learning about evolution. Conclusions We identified influential practices instructors could integrate into their classrooms to help students better incorporate evolution into their personal views. Having a role model and talking about compatibility between religion and evolution are influential in changing students’ views about evolution. Learning the mechanisms of the theory of evolution is also important in changing students’ views about evolution and might be more impactful when used in conjunction with a role model or a compatibility discussion.

Vaccine Refusal in the Czech Republic Is Associated with Being Spiritual but Not Religiously Affiliated

A strong reduction in the deleterious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic can be achieved by vaccination. Religiosity and spirituality (R/S) may play an important role in vaccine acceptance. However, evidence is lacking for the associations with religious conspiracy theories (RCT) in a non-religious environment. This study investigated the associations between R/S and RCT about COVID-19 vaccination and the links of R/S with vaccine refusal and hesitancy. A sample of Czech adults (n = 459) participated in the survey. We measured R/S, RCT, religious fundamentalism, and COVID-19 vaccination intentions. We found spirituality to be significantly associated with RCT belief, with odds ratios (OR) of 2.12 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.42–3.19). A combination of R/S groups revealed that spirituality with non-religious affiliation was associated with higher beliefs in RCT, with ORs from 3.51 to 7.17. Moreover, associations were found between spirituality with non-religious affiliation [OR 2.22(1.33–7.76)] with vaccine refusal. Our findings showed associations of spirituality and religious fundamentalism with RCT about COVID-19 vaccination. Furthermore, spirituality was linked to a higher possibility of vaccine refusal. Understanding these associations may help prevent the development of RCT and negative impact of spirituality on vaccine intentions and contribute to the effectiveness of the vaccination process.

Barriers to teaching evolution in higher education

Background Although progress has been made in evolution education, many educators face significant barriers in their efforts to teach evolution specifically, and science in general. The purpose of this study was to identify faculty-perceived barriers to teaching evolution, specifically in religiously affiliated institutions or institutions with a highly religious student body, as well as resources faculty feel would help promote discourse around faith, evolution and science. To do this, we held a workshop with teams consisting of a science professor, a theologian and a pastor (of the predominant on-campus faith tradition) from 17 different institutions of higher education with highly religious student bodies for the purpose of helping them to create a curriculum to address perceived conflicts between science and faith. During the workshop, participants created posters identifying barriers they face and resources they perceive as helpful. These posters were analyzed for prevalent themes and framed within an ecological model of behavior. Results These teams identified prevalent barriers at each level of the ecological model. Intrapersonal factors included a fear of rocking the boat and a fear of student conflict. Interpersonal factors included perceived student lack of knowledge, student ideology, and student apathy. Institutional factors included work politics, a lack of relevant discourse surrounding the conflict, and mixed messaging to students. Community factors included social norms associated with various student demographics. And public policy factors included local and state government attempts to limit the teaching of evolution. Additionally, participants identified resources that they felt would facilitate overcoming conflict including colleagues as change agents, various assets, and tools to negate conflict. Conclusions We determined that many of the concerns are addressable, and many resources are attainable. We urge the community to work toward these solutions. Additionally, we compare our findings to what the literature has shown and discuss the implications of faculty perceptions as compared to the published literature.

Religiously Affiliated Healthcare Institutions

Religious hospitals represent a large and growing share of the United States healthcare system. As these networks expand their reach, patients may face additional threats to their ability to receive care based on their own values. Physicians practicing in religious institutions—especially in Catholic hospitals—have experienced moral distress when prevented from providing medical care in accordance with the patient’s best interest, and many are surprised by the scope of restrictions under Catholic directives. Patients need accurate information about the care they can expect to receive in religious institutions. However, many lack awareness and knowledge of how to identify religious institutions and services available. This chapter addresses the history, clinical conflicts, bioethical concerns, and empiric literature about reproductive care in US religious healthcare institutions, focusing on Catholic health systems.